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One-off sessions being ditched in favour of long-term progress assessments

Photograph by: Bob Frid
, Bob Frid

As parents gear up their kids for the ongoing evaluation season, it’s important to keep a stress-free environment and remember it’s not about becoming a professional soccer player tomorrow.

“We don’t want this to be a fear-filled moment in the player’s overall development,” B.C. Soccer’s director of soccer development Michael Findlay said of the ongoing evaluations happening in the grassroots stream right now.

“From a parenting point of view, I think it’s very important and essential that when you’re dealing with players in the physical literacy category, this is not about becoming a professional or national team player tomorrow.”

The old days of the “one-off tryouts” to make a team are no more — in fact, it’s a term B.C. Soccer has eliminated from its vocabulary.

Clubs are instead expected to follow the long-term player development model by evaluating and assessing players on an ongoing basis. And it’s important for players and parents to remember that, no matter what, they’re going to end up on a team next season.

“The idea that ‘I didn’t make it’ — that’s the biggest stressor that comes out of (tryouts),” said Findlay. “Parents are put in a very difficult situation because parents want their children to do well.

“Sometimes parents are afraid that if their son or daughter is not playing with one team versus another they’re not going to be deemed as competent or as good as the next player.

“We want the players to come in knowing full well that they’re going to play.”

Technical director for Vancouver United FC, Gregor Young, tries to avoid these miscommunications by holding parent education sessions during evaluation season. His first session was held last week.

“Some (parents) have a healthy approach; laid back and get it that they just want their kid playing soccer,” said Young. “You’ll (also) get some people who are just obsessed with making a level and getting a tracksuit for that level.”

The question Young still gets most often is: “What happens if my kid doesn’t make a certain level?”

“Really, what a lot of parents should be asking is, ‘What happens if we do make this level or sneak in as the last player?’” he said. “Then they’re looking at a couple days of being really happy and potentially a season where their kid is just over-stretched and over-matched and doesn’t enjoy it and can’t compete.”

So in the education sessions, Young makes the evaluation intent “explicitly clear.”

“It’s our job as adults ... to find the best fit for these kids so they’ll enjoy soccer and keep playing,” he said.

As for the players, it’s nothing to get nervous about.

“We try to keep it as normal as possible,” said Young. “We don’t want them to feel like they have to prepare and go out and do some extra training.”

Young’s evaluations are actually divided into four phases, the first one beginning with the season in September. So he doesn’t only assess based on what he sees during evaluation season, but also on coach and technical staff feedback gathered throughout the year.

“We don’t want to rely on two, three sessions at the end of the year as being the snapshot of what level they’re at,” said Young. “Some kids get nervous and under-perform, some get fully wound up and over-perform, and it’s not an accurate representation of where they’re at as a player.”

Which is also why the evaluation in season is “not really set in stone” by B.C. Soccer.

“We’d like to see more clubs spend more time taking a much more responsible amount of time to assess and evaluate the players,” said Findlay. “If it could be spread out over time, and the environments are not as rigid, you’re going to be able to have an opportunity to make a better and more responsible decision.

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